Your Experiences - single with kicker | single w/o kicker

[WeekiTiki]

Although I did get towed in one time

Back in 1989

[thataway]

The 6 HP would do fine. Just get a low pitched prop. I have told this story before.
My dad had a 26' wooden sailboat, which had a hull very similar to the C Dory 25 (hard chine, arc bottom, a little V forward. He had a 1932 5 hp Evinrude set in a well. It pushed the boat at about 5 knots. We would often to to Catalina if there was no wind under that "kicker". By the 1960's parts were getting impossible to find, and so he bought a 9.9 Evinrude. The 5. hp moved the boat as well as the 9.9. You only have a certain speed which the boat can be easily driven. Granted if there are seas, or adverse wind, the smaller motors may have a slightly lower speed.

It is also nice to have a kicker which will be useful on a dinghy.

[Alan]

Single with a kicker!

You never know.

A better question would be: Why not? (Other than weight, maintenance, cost, etc.

[Peter & Judy]

I have a 22 with a Honda 90 and a Honda 9.9. I use the kicker for fishing, but it's main purpose is as a "Get me Home" motor. I boat in remote places and like the security of having something other than a paddle to get me home. This happened to me in Lake Powell in 2018. We were up the San Juan River when I had a failure on the 90. So we ended up cursing 50 miles back to Bull Frog Marina on the 9,9. It was slow and sometimes a bit tough in the wind, but we made it back. Deep in the canyon we did not have VHF radio contact, but I could have gotten a message out via my Garmin InReach. Next year I plan to be up on the north coast of BC near Prince Rupert and I would not consider doing a trip like this with only one motor. My boat came with this motor combo, but if I were to repower or buy a new boat I would seriously consider a set of twins. If one motor failed, I would feel more secure coming back on a 40 - 50 HP, rather than a 9.9.

[Leadbelly]

I have a 2018 Venture 23 with a Yamaha 115 and T9.9 kicker. I went with Yamaha T9.9 because of my experience on other boats. Previously I had a 2007 22 Cruiser with a Honda BF90 main. I first bought a Tohatsu 6 kicker thinking I could use it on the dinghy as well. That didn’t turn out to be practical and was not enough power for trolling so I went up to Tohatsu 9.8 manual tilt. That was much better, but still not great. (Tried various props too.)

I also had an older Yamaha T9.9 on a trimaran and really liked it. The dinner plate sized prop works really well. Since the 23 already had a Yamaha the decision was easy. I had the controls led forward and got the electric tilt. We’re super happy with it and can troll in pretty much any conditions.

PM me if you want to chat about these fun choices and trade offs.

[breausaw]

Almost 2000 single outboard hours on two C-dorys over 12 years, the only time I ran the kicker was to see if it worked.


My first C-dory was owned by a Coast Guardsman who thought it unnecessary to have a kicker. Fact is I didn’t add one tell the 3rd year.

[crowleykirk]

Wanted to thank everyone. I've PM'd many of you.

I don't think there is a debate for anyone that has used their kicker in an emergency situation. Many have not had that experience... yet.

I like the idea of nothing more than my motor and a transducer and maybe a permatrim at the stern. Whenever I see a kicker to me it just looks cluttered but I don't fish... YET:-) I like the simplicity of just the main.

Twins I'm not interested in for many reasons.... but I think they look damn sexy....
Oh no... I might of just started something with the twin guys...Haha...

We all make our choices. You know we all research until we're blue in the face... my wife thinks I have issues.... can't say I don't agree:-) Learning about which Garmin products to buy is a daunting task... but I'm getting there.

I'm going to add a 6 and 9.9hp kicker to my quote and see how that goes.

Again, thank you all or "all ya all's" for responding to this post... it's very much appreciated. I'm gonna owe some of you a beer, or cola or whatever. Some of you responded to every post I put up.... Thataway:-)

Happy sailing,
Kirk

[Major Tom]

I mounted a 6 HP Tohatsu (who makes the same Nissan model) on my single CD22 a few years ago. Even though I haven't needed it to escape a dangerous situation, the peace of mind is well worth it, and it's been handy in a lot of ways. I also use it for trolling and general fishing, it's really easy to be fishing on the deck and use the kicker to reposition for the next drift.

Note that at 50% throttle I get the same speed of about 5 mph as I do at full throttle, so displacement speed is an important consideration. And this motor has been great... very reliable, and relatively light, which is also an important consideration on our boats. Due to the swim step on my port side I had to mount it on the starboard side, same as the helm, so when boating alone you'll get a list if the kicker is too heavy. Mine is very slight and I manage the fuel tank usage accordingly for balance, when possible.

As mentioned above, if relying on it as a get home engine it really should have a separate fuel supply. I chose to use the existing tanks, but if I was going offshore or in remote areas a lot I'd carry a small tank or add one (but where to install it?!). And yes, bad fuel is often the culprit with engine failure on the water. Then again, I do fill each tank at different times, and I only go to gas stations with newer holding tanks and quality gas.
Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere offshore without a backup. Good luck!

[digger]

If you fish, a 9.9 or other 2 cylinder engine is much smoother than a single cylinder, and it will troll down to about 1 mph which is not easily done with a large motor. . I also like the electric start on my yamaha, since the 2 cylinder motors are not that easy to rope start (hard pull). If you are just talking an emergency motor, the single cylinder ones work fine. It is nice to have them able to be quick linked to the main for easier steering.

[thataway]

[digger]

Those older outboards were usually 2 strokes, with lower compression, resulting in an easier pull. We were also much younger and stronger😎

[crowleykirk]

The piece of mind could be all the reason one needs.

I've been told the 6hp Suzuki has its own fuel tank and the controls are just at the back as in a tiller. No controls from inside the boat. I suppose that's good enough for what its designed for.

The 9.9 would feed from the same tank as the main and have help controls.
So it's basically a twin engine that tilts out of the way. I'm leaning 6hp and just keep it super simple.

[Swee Pea]

My Nissan 6 hp kicker can be connected to my main Honda 90 with a rod that enables me to steer from the helm. Of course throttle must be controlled at the kicker motor.. Works.

John
Swee Pea

[Peter & Judy]

I'll add one more point. If you do add a kicker as a 'Get Me Home' motor, use it often. My boat came with the Honda 9.9 (Gretzky Jr.) and it was always a little hard to start and rough idling. The engine had very low hours because it hadn't been used much. Like all engines it likes to be used. After we used it more it began to run better and now runs great after the 12 hour run on Lake Powell when the 90 gave us troubles. I like to fire it up for an hour or so every time out. It is really quite nice to low speed cruise on when you in a nice quiet inlet and not in a hurry. Also the gas consumption is almost nil.

[Knipet]